Setting the scene for Monaco

Who knows what the super soft Pirelli tyres will do once the on-track action at the Monaco Grand Prix gets underway? Certainly not the drivers, as Edd Straw explains while setting the scene for Formula 1's most prestigious race.

One of the vagaries of the Formula 1 calendar is that Monaco has been held as the second leg of a back-to-back with the Spanish Grand Prix for the past two years. Given the difficulties of setting up the citadelesque motorhomes required in 21st century F1, its baffling that this is allowed to happen logistically. But worse than that is that one of the events not only of the grand prix year, but the worldwide sporting calendar, is bereft of the build-up that it is worthy of.

Instead, what we have is a breathless charge from Barcelona to Monte Carlo, whereupon we are welcomed not only by a half-finished paddock, but a half-finished track! Not that the Automobile Club de Monaco can be blamed for a truck fire at the entry to Ste Devote yesterday, a conflagration that also hit paddock preparations by preventing team trucks from getting in for a while. When you are building a Brand Centre on the tightest of schedules, that's a big setback.